SLS vs. FDM - Which technology wins? | Test of a Hyperbolic planetary gearset

We used two 3D printing technologies, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), and the most commonly used materials PA12 and PLA to print the same hyperbolic planetary gearset. After assembling the parts, we pushed them to their limits on our mechanical bench drill. Which part do you think will win this showdown?
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About us: Sintratec is the leading Swiss provider of first-class selective laser sintering (SLS) solutions. The professional 3D printing systems and resilient materials meet the highest industrial requirements. From the consultation to the service - Sintratec offers a user-friendly and overall package for modern, scalable additive manufacturing. To realize your ideas and designs in a fast and cost-effective way.
© Sintratec AG, 2023. This video, including all parts thereof, is protected by copyright. Any form of use that does not fall within the confines of copyright legislation is not permitted and is punishable by law. This applies in particular to processing it in any way and using excerpts from it. For more information please contact the producer.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:16 Cleaning 3D printed SLS parts / Order the FDM parts
0:35 Setting up the test
0:53 Test at 490 RPM
1:18 Analysis FDM
1:46 Analysis SLS
2:14 Pushing the limits
2:28 Test at 1200 RPM
2:43 Analysis of the High-Speed Test
3:03 Summary
3:16 Outro

[@3d-printerstoreCh]

Interesting, but comparing apples with pears - should have compared a PA12 (or PA12 Carbon) FDM with SLS

[@dawidpogoda3442]

Do you compare PLA to PA12? Sounds like cheating to me. SLS print should be more robust than FDM but compare the same materials at least. Otherwise, your comparison is useless

[@Sintratec]

The idea was to use the most common materials of each technology. Many print service bureaus here (including the one where we ordered the FDM part from) do not offer PA12 filament.

[@RindosRides]

Seriously, the most useless comparison ever. You could have done PLA powder for the SLS, as FDM printed PLA strength is far from its ideal strength. This could show if SLS achieved better layer adhesion and thus better yield strength.

[@ndrinks5550]

SLS PA12 compared to FDM PLA from some random "print service provider"? You might as well have tested gears made out of milk chocolate to a handbag filled with green Lego, it's just nonsense. I'd like to see SLS PA12 compared to Nedry from Jurassic Park, both running at 3000rpm minimum and marked on a scale of 0 to hello.

Why even bother to test PA12 against PLA???
I'm pro SLS but the cost of getting a decent size SLA printer is way over my maker budget.
Building on the V-CORE 3.1 I am building my own all metal FDM machine with a 500x500x500 build cube capable of printing with glass and carbon fibre PA6 as well as PA12 at a fraction of the cost of any of the commercially available SLA machines.
This will be my stop-gap printer to use while waiting for the open source SLS4ALL design to be released and then the SLS technology becomes available at a semo-pro budget.

[@sa_med]

There is a startup that will sell sls printers at 3k, they just released a demo of their printer and i think it's amazing. Not that I'm very knowledgeable but it just seems cool for the price

[@Corummo]

ABS Vs SLS would be a fair challenge. 🙂

[@pooounderscoreman]

Hi, very cool video. I'd love to see some other stress tests now with PA12 FDM vs SLS. Maybe something like a hydraulic press against an AI-generated column and maybe even an equivalent truss. Would be interesting to see what processes gives the highest pressure for the same weight.

[@Sintratec]

Great idea, we'll see what we can do!

[@ccoolavi]

Could you test again with transparent casing and lubricant in it?
That would cool it as well and demonstrate more practical use case

[@Sintratec]

Cool idea!

[@potteryjoe]

I'd like to see what this piece can do when printed with your metal printing technique.

[@Sintratec]

Good idea!

[@hellofdrum]

Nice! 🤩 cool video 👍🏽👍🏽

[@klauszinser]

Well done. On DM i am not surprised. Its good that you also that you challenged your own 'product'.
Personally i would have preferred a more usable gear. E.g. a gear for a bike maybe? But what exactly.
Or a planet gear? Or gears used in robots. Harmonic drive maybe.

[@klauszinser]

FDM not DM. We met in Munich when you started the company. :-)

[@firebloomstudios140]

Using a Material with 60-70 C heat deflection vs. a Material with 180 C Heat deflection isn´t kind of professional or comparable. Repeat the whole process with a PA12 vs PA12 and then let´s talk again. I tell you there is no real significant difference then. Not the best marketing, guys.

[@vonscherfarms925]

pretty disingenuous comparing PA12 to PLA.

[@Sintratec]

Our idea was to compare the two most common materials for each technology. Also, the print bureaus near our location do not offer FDM prints with PA12 filament unfortunately.

[@vonscherfarms925]

@@Sintratec i totally get that but the heat tolerances are very different. I know SLS is obviously better than fdm. Hoping one day y’all will sponsor me with a machine for my night vision

[@JarredBaines]

Non comparison...
Dislike 👎